In open-hole wellbore operations, a packer assembly system may sometimes be used to create a seal between an uphole portion of a wellbore and a downhole portion of the wellbore in order to enable operations to be performed by one or more tools on a string within the downhole portion. Mechanically-set packer assembly systems may rely on non-swellable materials that are expanded by mechanical means, as opposed to swelling means, to form a seal with a wall of the wellbore. Any interruptions between a packing element, or a sealing element, of the packer assembly system and the wellbore wall may prevent proper sealing and may adversely affect operations in the wellbore.
A typical packer assembly system may not provide accommodations for communication lines and/or control lines to be inserted within the packer system. If accommodations are provided, in a typical packer assembly, the line may be run either through the packing element, through an exterior of the packer assembly system, or through a drilled hole in the mandrel, which may result in the packer assembly not sealing completely when set within a wellbore. Some packer assemblies may rely on swellable materials to try to reduce this potential problem. However, in a mechanically set packer assembly, swellable materials may not be compatible with a packing or sealing element. Hence, in mechanically-set packer systems, it may be difficult to pass communication lines through the packer assembly. Packer assemblies that provide a line through either the packing element, an exterior of the packer assembly, or through the mandrel typically require splicing the communication line and/or control line above and below the packer assembly. Splicing enables an uphole portion of the line to be connected to a bridging communication line that is pre-installed through the packing system, which is in turn connected to a downhole portion of line. Splicing is a complex operation that may increase the resources necessary to run a packer system into a wellbore. Further, splices in a communication line and/or a control line may significantly degrade signal quality and may, therefore, adversely affect operations within the wellbore. Also, splices in the line may present a weak point, which may affect the integrity of the seal provided by the packer. Other disadvantages may exist.